Hello all,
I received 8 Paracyp. nigripinnis via overnight mail about 5 weeks ago. I lost one fish about 3 days after they arrived, it showed up pale and lethargic and spent most of it's time on the bottom. I don't think it shipped well, and didn't recover. The other 7 seemed fine and healthy, until last week, I noticed one appeared to be struggling near the surface, where it looked like it was floating up and then would have to swim back down again. It looked similar to a swim bladder issue, but that fish swam down into one of the rock caves and stopped the behavior later that day, and I haven't noticed the same behavior since. However, it has been under that rock every time I've looked at the tank since then, and I check it out multiple times a day. It doesn't come up to the surface like all the others looking for food when I walk by. I noticed yesterday that one more fish wasn't out and looking for food, and unfortunately I found one dead this morning, though I'm not sure if this was the one that has been under the rock for the last several days, as I found it on the other end of the tank and there is still a fish under that rock, but I'm not sure it's the same one. I haven't medicated yet, though I have a few different ones on hand for Ich, parasites, etc. I usually quarantine and observe as I haven't had to medicate often, and so it still makes me a bit nervous just treating everything as soon as it arrives, though I know that works well for some people.
These fish are currently in a 29 gallon that's 2/3rds full with a sponge filter, crushed coral substrate, lots of MTS to cleanup uneaten food, some rocks, and some floating hornwort and pennywort. Eventually, I'd like to add them to a 55 gallon with my multies and J. ornatus, but I want to get this issue addressed first. The multies are in their own 10g and breeding happily, and the 5 Ornatus are in a 20g high.
I had heard of Malawi bloat, but hadn't looked it up until recently, as I didn't know if it could be an issue for Tanganyikan fish. I'm wondering if that is the likely issue here? I'm mostly finding information about it in relation to herbivorous fish, so I don't really know. I have been feeding small amounts of crushed flake (Xtreme Aquatic Foods Krill Flakes) mostly, 3x a day, as well as some bbs or microworms, which are the only live foods I culture. The healthy fish show a strong feeding response to the crushed flake and to the live food. 5 are still showing very healthy appetites, one is still hiding in the cave under a rock.
I've been doing water changes once a week, about 25%, using tap water from my well that is only mildly hard, so I've been adding 1 tsp each baking soda and epsom salt in a 5 gallon bucket to increase hardness/Ph. I added 1 tsp Instant Ocean marine salt once, as it was listed in the buffer mix recipe, but have since read and heard that salt shouldn't be added, so I stopped. Current water parameters:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~10 ppm
Ph:8.2
dKH: 14
dGH: 18
Help?
I received 8 Paracyp. nigripinnis via overnight mail about 5 weeks ago. I lost one fish about 3 days after they arrived, it showed up pale and lethargic and spent most of it's time on the bottom. I don't think it shipped well, and didn't recover. The other 7 seemed fine and healthy, until last week, I noticed one appeared to be struggling near the surface, where it looked like it was floating up and then would have to swim back down again. It looked similar to a swim bladder issue, but that fish swam down into one of the rock caves and stopped the behavior later that day, and I haven't noticed the same behavior since. However, it has been under that rock every time I've looked at the tank since then, and I check it out multiple times a day. It doesn't come up to the surface like all the others looking for food when I walk by. I noticed yesterday that one more fish wasn't out and looking for food, and unfortunately I found one dead this morning, though I'm not sure if this was the one that has been under the rock for the last several days, as I found it on the other end of the tank and there is still a fish under that rock, but I'm not sure it's the same one. I haven't medicated yet, though I have a few different ones on hand for Ich, parasites, etc. I usually quarantine and observe as I haven't had to medicate often, and so it still makes me a bit nervous just treating everything as soon as it arrives, though I know that works well for some people.
These fish are currently in a 29 gallon that's 2/3rds full with a sponge filter, crushed coral substrate, lots of MTS to cleanup uneaten food, some rocks, and some floating hornwort and pennywort. Eventually, I'd like to add them to a 55 gallon with my multies and J. ornatus, but I want to get this issue addressed first. The multies are in their own 10g and breeding happily, and the 5 Ornatus are in a 20g high.
I had heard of Malawi bloat, but hadn't looked it up until recently, as I didn't know if it could be an issue for Tanganyikan fish. I'm wondering if that is the likely issue here? I'm mostly finding information about it in relation to herbivorous fish, so I don't really know. I have been feeding small amounts of crushed flake (Xtreme Aquatic Foods Krill Flakes) mostly, 3x a day, as well as some bbs or microworms, which are the only live foods I culture. The healthy fish show a strong feeding response to the crushed flake and to the live food. 5 are still showing very healthy appetites, one is still hiding in the cave under a rock.
I've been doing water changes once a week, about 25%, using tap water from my well that is only mildly hard, so I've been adding 1 tsp each baking soda and epsom salt in a 5 gallon bucket to increase hardness/Ph. I added 1 tsp Instant Ocean marine salt once, as it was listed in the buffer mix recipe, but have since read and heard that salt shouldn't be added, so I stopped. Current water parameters:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~10 ppm
Ph:8.2
dKH: 14
dGH: 18
Help?